Senators wear down Norwalk

Published 8:00 pm, Tuesday, April 21, 2009

NORWALK

By STEVE GEOGHEGAN

Hour Staff Writer

The records can always get thrown out the window whenever McMahon takes on Norwalk in any sport.

And when the boys lacrosse teams clash, the intensity on both sides is ratcheted up an extra notch. Even though the Bears have struggled this season, they came out strong and only trailed by two going into the second quarter.

But as the saying goes, the cream always rises to the top and the Senators scored nine straight goals and wore down the Bears on their way to a physical 13-2 victory to win the McCue Trophy Tuesday night at a foggy Testa Field. It was their fifth straight victory in the series.

McMahon, which was led by Scott McCormack's four goals and a hat trick by Mike Horne, raised its record to 4-1 overall while Norwalk fell to 0-6.

"I thought we had a little more legs," McMahon head coach Mike Epstein said. "We have an advantage with a lot of seniors and our experience was a factor."

The Senators took a quick 4-0 lead in the first quarter with 6:15 on the clock in the first quarter on goals by Christian Leone, Corey McNichols (two) and Connor McCormack. Norwalk cut the lead to 4-2 with 1:48 remaining in the first quarter on goals by Da'Quan Keel and Hunter Finneran.

The Senators tacked on three second-quarter goals by Horne, Nick Blosio and Scott McCormack to take a 7-2 lead going into halftime.

"The first half was the hardest half they've played so far this year," Norwalk coach Chris McGee said of his players. "Tyler (Petrides) was able to control most of the faceoffs but we had too many unforced turnovers."

McMahon dominated in the second half, especially the third quarter. The Senators netted five goal in the frame to go out ahead 12-2. Scott McCormack, Horne, Connor McCormack and Horne again had the goals with Horne completing his hat trick with 5:32 remaining in the frame.

"We were able to put the ball in good spots and found the open cutters," Epstein said. "It worked out well for us."

And when the Bears went on the attack, they were thwarted by their own mistakes.

Plus McMahon's defense stepped up and made things very difficult for Norwalk to get good looks at the goal.

"We're young but eventually we have to grow up," McGee said.

Scott McCormack completed the scoring with a nice goal off an assist from Connor McCormack with 5:38 on the clock in the fourth quarter.

Connor McCormack finished with two goals and an assist and McNichols, who was named McMahon's MVP, also had two goals and two assists.

Leone chipped in with a goal and two assists and Horne and Scott McCormack were each credited with an assist.

McMahon goalie Andrew Landsman made eight saves and his counterpart Rob Romano finished with 15. Petrides won his fair share of faceoffs on the night and received Norwalk's MVP honors.

"They're coming and Chris does a nice job," Epstein said of Norwalk. "We played smart and with poise."